Judgments of 1981

In the 1977 Nagaland Assembly election, N.C. Zeliang was declared elected but the defeated candidate Aju Newmai filed an election petition alleging that Zeliang committed corrupt practices by filing a false expense return and exceeding the permissible election expenditure limit, as well as by holding feasts to induce v…

The Azad Rickshaw Pullers Union and other petitioners challenged the Punjab Cycle Rickshaws (Regulation of Rickshaws) Act, 1976, alleging it violated their fundamental rights under Articles 32 and 38 of the Constitution. The Act prohibited owners of cycle rickshaws from obtaining licences unless they themselves were th…

The Supreme Court examined the Delhi Municipal Corporation's Cycle Rickshaw Bye‑Law (1960, amended 1976) which required that only owners of a cycle rickshaw could obtain a licence to ply for hire. Petitioners challenged this provision, arguing that the criteria for granting licences were arbitrary and that a ceiling on…

Bishwanath Tea Co. Ltd., a corporate lessee of a tea plantation lease, sought to cut timber from the leased grant for constructing staff houses in other tea estates and challenged the Divisional Forest Officer's demand for royalty, filing a writ petition under Art. 226 for refund and a mandamus to waive royalty. The Hi…

Shiv Prasad Bhatnagar was detained under Section 12(1) of the National Security Act on grounds that he and unnamed associates had abused Muslims and caused public disturbance in November 1980, and on a series of earlier incidents from 1974 to 1978. The petitioner challenged the detention before the Supreme Court under …

P.C. Wadhwa, an IPS officer, was deputed to the Haryana State Electricity Board as a Vigilance Officer. The Governor's order protected his pay but did not mention a deputation allowance. Wadhwa claimed entitlement to such allowance under Rule 2(b) of the All India Services (Conditions of Service‑Residuary Matters) Rule…

The State of Tamil Nadu, exercising its power under Section 15 of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957, issued Rule 8‑C of the Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1959, which barred private persons from obtaining leases for quarrying black granite and permitted only the State or its whol…

The Supreme Court considered an appeal by Chhanganlal Mansukhlal challenging the applicability of fee provisions under Rule 49 of the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Rules, 1965. The dispute centered on whether fees are payable when agricultural produce is brought into a market area for industrial use or export, h…

The petitioners, a group of private road‑transport operators, challenged the Uttar Pradesh Government’s approval of a scheme that nationalised certain bus routes in favour of the State Transport Undertaking (STU) under sections 68C and 68D of the Motor Vehicles Act. They argued that the scheme was not necessary in the …

Three prisoners filed a writ petition alleging illegal solitary confinement for 8‑11 months and the imposition of iron fetters on flimsy grounds. The Supreme Court ordered their immediate release from solitary confinement, examined the circumstances of alleged police violence during transit, and directed medical treatm…

V.B. Raju, an Indian Civil Service officer who later became a High Court Judge, filed a petition seeking two separate pensions—one for his service as an I.C.S. officer and another for his tenure as a judge—under the High Court Judges (Conditions of Service) Act, 1954. The issues centered on the constitutional validity …

V.B. Raju, an additional judge of the Bombay High Court, was allotted to the newly created Gujarat High Court under section 29(1) of the Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960. He filed a petition under article 226 seeking the compensatory allowance provided by article 222(2) of the Constitution, contending that the president…

B.S. Narwal enrolled in the five‑year integrated M.A. programme in Russian at Jawaharlal Nehru University but failed to clear any core courses in the first three semesters despite being allowed to repeat them. The Centre of Russian Studies recommended, and the University acted on, his removal from the rolls for unsatis…

Lallu Jogi Patel was detained on 31 January 1980 under Section 3(1) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA). He sought copies of the documents relied upon in the grounds of detention and permission for his lawyer to interview him. The State supplied the docume…

The Supreme Court examined the preventive detention of Jahaubar Moulana under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974. The detenu argued that the detaining authority had failed to furnish copies of documents mentioned in the grounds of detention, had delayed consideration o…

Gokul Parashram Patil stabbed Anita with a single blow above the left clavicle, causing a muscle‑deep wound that inadvertently cut the superior vena cava, an injury sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. The trial court and the Bombay High Court convicted him of murder under section 302 of the Indi…

The case concerned a seasonal sugar factory that paid a retaining allowance to its workers during the off‑season. The management treated this allowance as part of wages for the Employees' Provident Funds Act but not for the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965. An Industrial Court held the allowance could not be counted for bonu…

The case involved a long-standing dispute over a vacant plot of land between the appellants and Pahelwan (PW I) and his son Ram Swarup. The appellants threw rubbish on the land, leading to an altercation; later, armed appellants attacked PW I and his son, during which PW I snatched a spear and defended himself. The app…

The appellants, four brothers who ran the shop M.F. Maniyar & Sons, were convicted under Section 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code and related provisions for possessing and selling large quantities of potassium cyanide, potassium chlorate, detonators and other explosives without a…

Madura Coats Ltd., an industrial establishment in Tamil Nadu, faced a strike by its workmen from 21 January to 5 February 1976 over a bonus dispute. The strike included 26 January, a national holiday, for which the employer withheld wages. The Inspector of Factories ordered payment of wages for that day under the Tamil…

The State of Punjab, under the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, notified the inclusion of eight local areas into Sunam Municipality. A stay order was later placed on this notification, preventing the areas from being officially added. Despite the stay, the State, compelled by a statutory deadline, held municipal elections o…

The State of Punjab charged Sarwan Singh with embezzlement under IPC s.406, alleging the offence occurred on 22 August 1972 and was detected on 5 January 1973. The trial court convicted him in 1976, sentencing him to one year rigorous imprisonment and a fine. On appeal, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Singh…

The Supreme Court examined a land acquisition dispute where the General Government Servants Co‑operative Housing Society Ltd. sought to acquire land for residential houses. The land had been sold by the Central Government to the first respondent, Wahab Uddin, after being declared evacuee property under the Displaced Pe…

The petitioner, a former army captain, was accepted as a Class ‘A’ Tahsildar candidate on 13 September 1974, underwent training and was substantively appointed as Tahsildar on 3 January 1978. He sought to have his military service during the Emergency (1963‑68) and thereafter counted towards seniority from 26 September…

The petitioners, Indru Ramchand Bharvani and his father Ram Chand Bharvani, were detained under Section 3(i) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974, after a customs raid on their diamond business. They requested copies of the statements and documents on which the ground…

Sewakram Sobhani, a former detainee, sued the editor of the Blitz weekly for defamation after the newspaper published a story alleging he impregnated a female detainee, based on a confidential government enquiry report. The magistrate ordered the plea to be recorded under CrPC s.251 without producing the report, which …